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Jawbone launches the Up24, its first wireless fitness tracker

Jawbone’s Up brand fitness trackers have always been a popular choice for fitness tech aficionados, but in the face of new competition from Adidas and Nike, the company has reacted to announce the UP 24.

Around two years since the original Up went on sale, the new incarnation of the device finally overcomes what seems like a basic usability hurdle and introduces a wireless charging and syncing capability for the first time. This means that users can now use their device to sync their sleep and activity data without having to be plugged in.

The UP24 is always connected to your smartphone via Bluetooth Smart, helping you achieve your goals with real-time updates on your progress and notifications when you need them.

Jawbone once said that it didn’t want to use Bluetooth in the Up band because it would necessitate chunkier hardware, put a dent in battery life and generally complicate the user experience. The UP24 overcomes this, promising seven days of use, thanks to the Bluetooth Low Energy radio inside, which is the same power-efficient standard used in other new fitness trackers.The Up24 is also roughly the same size as the current Up band, and just as water-resistant, too.

The UP24 is available in two colour schemes

In addition, Jawbone has released version 3.0 of its iOS app, which includes some features that will only work on the new Up24, including live notifications that let you know you’re about to meet your fitness goals, and the ability to share these with friends.

Because the Up24 works over Bluetooth, you can also set a vibrating “Smart Alarm” using the app, instead of having to take off the band and plug it into your phone. Most important of all, perhaps, is a new sleep recovery tool that allows you to estimate how much sleep you got, even if you forgot to put the band into sleep mode.

The UP24 is available in two colour schemes, Onyx and Persimmon, and is available to buy from Jawbone’s website now for $150, a bit dearer than its predecessor, with information on a European launch coming soon.